Budget cuts approved Wednesday by the Senate Appropriations Committee would slash essential programs that protect Michigan residents from tainted drinking water and toxic groundwater contamination, the Michigan Environmental Council and Michigan League of Conservation Voters said.
The proposed cuts to Department of Environmental Quality programs include a $14.9 million reduction in funds to address contaminated sites around the state and a $2.6 million cut to enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act as it pertains to lead in drinking water.

MEC is proud to announce that Tina Reynolds, our health policy director, has been appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder to serve on a new Child Lead Exposure Elimination Commission. Snyder signed an executive order creating the commission in March and said it will be a permanent body.

Testing all children for lead exposure, passing a statewide code for septic systems and becoming the first state east of the Mississippi River to open an Office of Outdoor Recreation are among the priorities in a new policy agenda unveiled Monday by the Michigan Environmental Council.

Michigan Environmental Council Policy Priorities 2017-2018

Following the Flint water crisis, it is clear that state government must refocus its attention on protecting public health and the environment. Michigan Environmental Council will focus on the following priorities in the 2017-2018 legislative session. These policy priorities were developed in collaboration with our member organizations from throughout Michigan.

The Board, formed after the Flint crisis and in light of the thousands of Michigan kids needlessly lead poisoned each year, worked diligently over the summer and fall to craft these comprehensive recommendations to end childhood lead poisoning.

Last October I received a phone call that would dramatically impact me professionally and personally. It was Gov. Rick Snyder’s office calling, asking me to serve as co-chair of the governor’s Flint Water Advisory Task Force. The task force’s charge was to determine what happened in Flint and why, and to provide recommendations on how to prevent this from ever happening again. The group would meet for five months, release three letters to the governor and issue a final report that contained 36 findings and 44 recommendations.

Some pediatricians give kids a lollipop after a checkup. The deal’s a lot sweeter at Mona Hanna-Attisha’s clinic at Hurley Children’s Center in Flint.
“Dr. Mona,” as she’s known around town, sends patients’ families out the door with a $10 voucher to buy fresh, healthy food at the Flint Farmers’ Market—no extra trip required, since the clinic is on the second floor of the market building. It’s also across the street from the bus station, providing an important connection in a city where 40 percent of residents live beneath the poverty line and many families don’t have a car.
It’s a setup that embodies Hanna-Attisha’s integrated approach to medicine and her belief that quality pediatric care can’t be separated from good nutrition and a healthy, stimulating environment. That prescription is needed more urgently than ever in a city whose children already faced daunting struggles before their drinking water was contaminated with toxic, brain-damaging lead.

Funding for statewide lead poisoning prevention programs proposed Tuesday by a state budget panel falls far short of what's needed to protect Michigan children from the preventable but irreversible brain damage caused by the toxic metal, say MEC and partners in the Michigan Alliance for Lead Safe Homes.

The Michigan Environmental Council today praised Gov. Rick Snyder's announcement of a new Child Lead Poisoning Elimination Board to protect Michigan's children from the devastating effects of lead exposure.

Michigan Environmental Council President Chris Kolb issued the following statement in response to reforms to Michigan's implementation of the federal Lead and Copper Rule proposed today by Gov. Rick Snyder:
"The reforms proposed today are an important first step in what needs to be a major, multi-pronged effort to protect Michigan children by ridding our communities of lead hazards. Governor Snyder has put forth a strong plan for addressing the lead risk in water, and we look forward to working with him and legislative leaders to ensure the proposed programs and policies are adequately funded, swiftly implemented and strongly enforced.

Flint Water Advisory Task Force Final Report

The Flint Water Advisory Task Force offers in this report our findings and recommendations regarding the Flint water crisis. We have come to our conclusions largely through interviews of individuals involved and review of related documents now available in the public record. Our report includes 36 findings and 44 recommendations, offered to fulfill our charge of determining the causes of the Flint water crisis, identifying remedial measures for the Flint community, and safeguarding Michigan residents.

MEC President Chris Kolb was appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder in October to co-chair a task force charged with determining the root causes of Flint’s drinking water crisis, and making recommendations to ensure nothing like it happens again in Michigan.

Health advocates today applauded the Legislature's approval of $28 million in state aid for families impacted by the lead poisoning crisis in Flint, recognizing that the appropriation is only a down payment on what must be a continuing commitment of state resources for the city's recovery.

The Flint Water Advisory Task Force today released a letter sent to Governor Rick Snyder advising him of the Task Force’s finding that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is primarily responsible for failing to ensure safe drinking water in Flint and must be held accountable.

Flint Water Advisory Task Force letter to Gov Snyder 122915

We believe the primary responsibility for what happened in Flint rests with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). Although many individuals and entities at state and local levels contributed to creating and prolonging the problem, MDEQ is the government agency that has responsibility to ensure safe drinking water in Michigan. It failed in that responsibility and must be held accountable for that failure.